Kyou Kai
Kyou Kai is the heir of the legendary assassin Clan Shiyuu who is determined to get revenge for the death of her sister, Kyou Shou, who was killed by the current Shiyuu, Ren from the Yuu tribe. Fights with a sword named "Ryokusui". She holds the position of lieutenant in Shin's special unit. Appearance She wears a scarf and a white headband with two red markings. Her eyes are jade green and she dons red and white clothing with sleeves longer than her arm. Her hair colour is black and is worn in a pony tail. Her sword is very exquisite as it has a decorated hilt with some gold at the base. Ten notes that she has a surprisingly pretty face. Personality She has a quiet personality, saying little unless she is giving advice to Shin or Ten. Others who have seen her inhuman talent with the sword have called her a monster as she cuts down her opponents with ease. Holds disdain for those who are clueless of the Shiyuu. History She and her sister Shou were trained from a young age to become deadly warriors and both hail from the Kyou tribe of the Shiyuu clan. She cared deeply for her sister and said she would not feel bad dying at her hands for the Shiyuu ritual. She woke up late and found that Shou had used some incense to put her into deep sleep the night before. Racing to the ritual site, she arrives to find the bodies of potential Shiyuu all over the ground and looks for her sister's corpse. Clutching her severed head, Kyou Kai mourns the loss of her sister, asking her granny what happened. The elder informs her that Shou was targeted from the start by all the other candidates and says that it was allowed because both her and Shou were far above the rest in terms of ability. The elders gather and tell her to commit suicide as the victor has already been decided and she, instead, kills all those present. Story Keiyou Campaign Arc After leaving her clan, she met Shin during Duke Hyou's campaign against the state of Wei while he was looking for a Go unit to join in the army. They are eventually assigned to Taku Kei's squad and when the members introduce themselves, they assume Kyou Kai is a mute until she speaks saying that she dislikes talking. During the battle against Kyuugen's forces, she speaks up, saying she has a plan to deal with the Wei war chariots. The plan was to pile up Qin corpses in the form of a rampart to interfere with the enemy's mobility. Other squads quickly mimic this tactic and gain a fighting chance against the Wei. She tells Shin that it is his chance to attack and advises him on how to defeat the chariots by targeting the wheels instead of the riders. When Baku Koshin orders them to charge the hill, she talks about the difficulty of the task and the situation they will face. Shin notices that she's gotten more talkative since the chariots appeared and asks why the change to which she replies that she can't die here. She saves Bi Hei from being killed, cutting 5 of his attackers in half and shocking all present. Holding her position with the 6 infantry who climbed the hill, she cut through Wei troops, displaying speed and agility before she ran out of breath. Assassination Plot Arc After the campaign, she drops by Shin's home to warn him not to interfere with what goes on at the royal palace, stating that he will lose his life if he goes. She is present during a secret meeting, along with other assassins, at the home of Mister Shi who was the former advisor to Ketsu. Her appearance shocks all those present as they failed to detect her presence and the three assassins from Shukyou Clan knelt before her upon knowing she was from Clan Shiyuu. Shi tells them that their goal is to assassinate the Qin King in the dead of night. Quietly infiltrating the palace, she stumbles upon members of Clan Kakuriki who had captured Ten. When she asks them to hand Ten over, they attack her and are all subsequently killed in the process. She and Clan Shukyou find the king, Ten and Shin trapped in a chamber within the palace and Shin cuts down one of the Shukyou men who charge at them. She walks forward to fight Shin and tells him that she is an assassin. Dodging his strikes, she easily attacks Shin on various parts of his body but he refuses to give up. Not understanding why, she asks him and he says that he's defending the king because they are comrades. Clan Gouma interrupts their fight and Shin calls for a truce with her so that they can defeat the intruders. She tells Shin to stall the assassins for 30 seconds so she can get her breath back and takes a seated stance. After gaining enough breath for one round, Kyou Kai begins her martial dance and annihilates most of the Clan Gouma members present before passing out from exhaustion. She is tied up on a bed by Ten but easily escapes her bonds and helps calm Shin's fever down before leaving through the window. Ten waits below the window and confronts her, saying she knows that Kyou Kai is a girl. She asks the assassin to teach her the techniques of the Shiyuu before they are interrupted by the leader of Clan Shukyou. He praises her swordplay and offers assistance in her endeavours but she declines, calling the bonds between their two clans a thing of the past. After he departs, she tells Ten that it is impossible to train her as the environment they were born and raised in are far too different. As Ten's constitution is not suited for learning the Shiyuu techniques. Training Arc Kyou leads Ten to some connections that could train her in becoming a strategist. After passing Ten's message to Shin, she is invited into his home where they discuss about Ten's choice and she sleeps over before leaving in the morning. Battle of Bayou Arc Kyou runs into Heki as he and his unit head to the impending Zhao conflict, she states that her sword is irritated. She returns to the Hi Shin unit before they head out from Kanyou as her "target" has moved from Wei to Zhao and spars with Shin as the army marches to Baou. She talks about the origin of the Priestess Dance and mentions the existence of the Bushin. When the Hi Shin unit is sent after Zhao General Fuuki's head, she kills all the posted Zhao scouts, allowing them to get closer to the general and his guards. After killing an enemy captain, she rides along with Shin on his horse as they head for Fuuki. As the Qin army rested from following the retreating Zhao, she sensed Houken's presence moving about in the camp. She attacks Houken after Shin does, asking who he is, then hears him say he is the Bunshin. She senses him giving off the sensation of a Shiyuu utilizing her chi and remembers the clan teachings to never approach the Bushin. After engaging in a pincer move against the daunting man, Kyou is shocked when he turns on Shin, knocking him out cold. He attacks her as well but she manages to dodge and begins the Priestess Dance, aiming for a short fight. Diving deeper into the technique, Kyou Kai begins to gain the upper hand as she dodges and cuts Houken several times before aiming for his neck when the dance had reached its deepest depth. He blocks this and another attack, saying that the ability to predict an opponent's movements is not hers alone then she begins to feel the aftereffects of using the Priestess Dance. Sweating profusely and going pale, she feels her body get heavy and throws up as the recoil from her technique catches up to her. Then 500 Zhao arrive under the command of Mangoku. Shin then rises and orders his to fall back and regroup, while Shin and Kyou Kai cover them. Instead the Kanou Army shows up and attacks the Zhao. During the chaos, everyone slowly find their way back to Shin. When Shin wants them to fight Houken, Suugen tells him that he understands his feelings, but he should take a minute to calm down and think it through. And they cannot defeat him by blindly charging like that. If they were to fail in their gambit after entering the middle of that, there’s no doubt their unit will be annihilated. Shin reminds him of when they took Fuuki’s head, and how many of their men gave up their lives so they could take it. And how their centre and right armies sacrificed thousands, and what they had to show for it. That is what war is. But right now, the Zhao Commander-in-Chief was right in front of them. But he agrees with him, so he asks if anyone wants to pull out. Shin has everyone apart from him and Seki’s squad split into three groups. Kyou Kai knew it was useless to stop Shin. But she told him, her breath doesn't seem to be coming back, and not to rely on her to do anything. And he tells he wasn't planning to. The men then, take position surrounding Houken from three directions. Gathering as many of the nearby spears as possible. Then hold position and wait for the signal. On Seki’s whistle signal, all three groups made a beeline for Houken. Then threw spears at him from all three directions. He deflected all of them, but while he deflected them Shin snuck up on him from behind. He still noticed him, but Shin knew he would and dodged the swing.When he goes to cut him, Shin knew that Houken would still notice and go for another swing so he dodged it and slashed him. But it didn’t work. Before he could make another move he is hit by the backend of his glaive. And before Houken can kill Shin, Kyou Kai protects him, and is blow away. Then as he goes to kill Shin, he is protected by the Bi brothers and Taku. The Hi Shin unit comes to their aid before retreating as Mangoku chases after them. Denyuu then splits off from the main group carrying Kyou Kai to safety. The next morning, they find the others after hearing Seki’s whistle. Kyou Kai is carried by Denyuu and Bi Hei by Choutetsu. He explains to them that Bi Hei used himself as bait to lure away the trackers. That how their group, which was chasing after Shin, ran into Bi Hei who was on the verge of death. They then ended up be caught by Zhao soldiers, but Kyou Kai pushed herself to the limit and helped them get away. He then puts a now conscious Kyou Kai down, because she says she can walk. Bi Hei wakes up and tells everyone Shin will be fine in Tou’s hands. He tells them to send out search teams, and he has a pretty good idea what direction they’re in. But Seki tells them Shin has returned, carrying a Bi Tou. As everyone is relieved of their return, Shin tells Hei he’s sorry. And lays a lifeless Bi Tou down. When Shin asks Kyou Kai who is stronger between Houken and Ō Ki. She tells him Houken and gets angry comments from the unit members. Abilities Kyou Kai embodies all the skills to be found in the ideal assassin: stealth, intellect, agility and unstoppable might. She is strong enough to kill multiple opponents with a single move, splitting them in half. Despite this, she exhibits total control over her strength as she skilfully cuts Shin's clothes intentionally during their fight without causing him to bleed and knocks him down with a heavy stroke. This shows the clear skill difference as Shin is bigger than her yet she can deliver powerful attacks that are at odds with her size. She shows great agility and balance by effortlessly dodging enemy attacks and balancing her entire body on Shin's blade. She displays acute breath control with her chi as she helps calm down Shin's fever after their fight. The depth of her breath enables her to tap into her swordplay like never before. Her weakness is her short stamina as seen in the assassination attempt and the Battle at Dakan Plains. Opponents that can survive until she runs out of breath can quickly turn the fight in their favor so fighting alongside comrades can give some protection if this were to happen. Techniques *Priestess Dance Gallery |t2=Anime |2= }} Trivia Like Yotanwa and many other female characters, Kyokai was historically a man. Category:Characters Category:Clan Shiyuu Category:Hi Shin Unit Category:Female Category:Sword Users Category:Assassins Category:Qin Category:Lieutenant Category:Taku Squad Category:Cavalry